Private Game for Natalie

Spoiler-free review

I’ve been sitting here for a bit over 15 minutes now, staring into the blinking line and thinking how to properly explain what this game is. It’s not that I struggle with the technicalities of what I read, but rather because to go through this ‘love’ story is to go through something that feels extremely personal, both to the ‘characters’ inside it and to the reader. Private Game for Natalie is a very unique experience that threads down its own path somewhere between an interactive storygame, a piece of abstract art and an experimental dive into metafiction.

At first glance the story appears simple: a slightly on-the-nose and very meta retelling of a couple’s first meeting in the form of this very game created as an anniversary gift for the titular Natalie, who in some sense can be treated as a coprotagonist alongside the narrator himself. The longer the reader spends in Natalie’s shoes however, the more the story deconstructs itself as it dances between settings and genres based on the choices made by her.

And with how vast the diversity of paths to take is considering the notable, but far from substantial word count it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say that Natalie’s experience can be whatever the reader wants it to be. Choices are plentiful and their impact is significant, especially thanks to how self aware the story is, which allows for a frankly mind boggling amount of endings to find and experience (in my single afternoon of playing I’ve counted 41). And while they’re not very verbose, each one stands out in some way from the rest on top of also being internally consistent with the surprisingly expanded background hiding underneath the story itself.

This significant amount of ‘worldbuilding’ can be credited to the frankly superb narration. Narrating interactive stories in the second person is probably the most common approach, but approaching it with a twist and turning the narrator from a detached entity into a character that is not only part of, but remains ingrained in the story itself. Instead of traditional exposition of events and information the entirety of the game is essentially one long dialogue between the narrator and the reader, which makes for a fresh and unique reading experience.

This self awareness and direct contact with the narrator makes him into a surprisingly fleshed out person that molds into Natalie’s decisions, but at the same time retains a sense of obsessiveness around him, which can keep the reader on edge and introduce a certain weight to the choices presented. In many ways this level of importance on the narrator as a person and just a tool feels quite reminiscent of Stanley Parable and its narrator, just like the story itself from a structural point of view.

Another parallel between the two parables is the general lack of other characters within the story. There are names that appear in a few places, but none of them get an opportunity to become actual characters. Even Natalie herself can’t be truly called a character, especially due to her technically existing outside the story as a reader, which sounds much worse than it actually is considering the nature of the game. What however isn't better than it sounds is the surprising amount of SPaG errors littering the story. They’re mostly not very jarring typos that don’t make it impossible to understand what’s being said, but if some kind of English Professor were to grade it, it would quite likely end up with a point or two docked from the final grade.

Summarizing Private Game for Natalie into a paragraph is quite hard, but for the best possible reasons one could have. It is a game that is both vast and deep, with so many different paths and endings that ultimately converge into a single memorable experience delivered as part of a technical masterclass of storytelling that does so much with so little.

Final score: 7/8

There's a sweet, simple little love story of nostalgic reminiscences to be had here...if you choose wisely, and don't stray from the expected path.

Now if you don't play along, and start to contradict the narrator, if for some perverse reason you (as Natalie) insist on remembering things *incorrectly*, things get a little thorny, fast. If you're coming to this or to Gower's previous game after having only followed along with the superb Tally Ho LP, I imagine it can be a little surreal. If there's one thing I'm learning about his CYS storygames anyway, it's that you can expect him to do some neat tricks with the POV and structure of these, and you can expect to be unsettled.

The previous game presented itself as a quiz and (for most of it) was Gower as the author speaking to you, the player. This time the 'you' is Natalie, playing the game that was written for her by the narrator and sometimes speaking directly through the choices. (And this is the source of the only flaw I found in the game. It was supposed to have been written in advance for her to play through, and that's confirmed in most of the endings, but it didn't always seem that way as it was actually happening...and of course certain choices changed the actual 'reality' of the relationship and some didn't. Although, this being a CYOA, I'd be at a loss for coming up with other ways to handle it.)

Overthinking the structure aside, the game and the different takes on the characters' relationship is just fascinating to explore. Sometimes it hits that fond, nostalgic tone of a 20 year anniversary just right, sometimes it's twisted and hysterically funny, and sometimes...well, often...it swerves on a hard left and turns dark af.

(Weirdly, the 'baked ziti' conversation was the most uncomfortable one for me, perhaps because it's a much more familiar and realistic example of a terrible relationship than some of the uh, other options.)

The automatic dishwasher scene meanwhile is bizarre and hilarious and not at all what you'd expect to encounter in a story like this, but it was a great moment for a change of pace after pawing through so many other twisted memories, 'distortions', and what have you.

This is undoubtedly one of the best written stories we have in the L&D category, but anyone looking for a safe, traditional romance is going to be in for a shock, and I'm looking forward to reactions.

Btw, the Quinn and Floyd choices are very much worth unlocking, and not difficult. Just go back and choose a bit differently near the beginning. (Scrolling through the comments for the exchange between 'Natalie' and Gower is also recommended after reading this a few times, it's good enough to belong in the story itself and definitely should be part of the experience...)

This was a great read, the kind of thing you have to get through all in one sitting once you realize what's going on with the responses and endings. Although, because the nature of the existing relationship can change so much depending on what you pick, I never got that clear, unified picture of it all the way I did in the OTHER story. Gower may or may not have been married to Natalie for 20 years, but it's obvious his true first love will always be Kelly. Nothing can match the intensity of the spark they had.

SPOILER ALERT: Don't read this if you don't already know what happens, you pillock.

I'm sitting here a little bit dumbfounded by what's been laid out before me. Trying to imagine the feelings I might have if I didn't know Gower, or this website. I have to admit, it would be really strange. I'm trying to get into the head of someone, who, upon seeing this 90s-ass website for the first time, maybe feeling like they're sort of in the middle of nowhere on the internet, which is always a fun but apprehensive feeling, scrolling down to the New Storygames section for the first time to see what's up... And finding this.

I have to say, this might be, at first, one of the more unsettling things I've read on the site. Sure, the actual horror genre is all well and good, and there are some good examples on this site, but nothing here has made me feel as *uncomfortable* as this story. And I think that's clear from the very beginning. Everything written here is clearly written for somebody else- And whether you assume the familiarity is scary and uncomfortable, or whether you feel like you're an unwelcome voyeur spying on two people who are closer than you realized, there's a sense of dread from the very first page. You're not supposed to be here, and maybe Natalie isn't either.


Maybe it's just that I have experience reading the writings of internet creeps who have entire relationships sheerly in their heads, but the writing felt so indicative of it that I felt compelled for "Natalie" to tell a side of the story that didn't match up with his. And after a few depressing endings, it started to become a game less about learning about these two people, and more a game of trying to find out what's real and what isn't. And, just like a real conversation with an infatuated individual, that answer is never really clear. You won't know if what they tell you about the subject of their obsession is real or not if they're your only source of information on the relationship.

Of course, the paths are not consistent between each other. They don't have to be! But sometimes Gower will contradict Natalie even within the path she's currently on. And it leads to conclusions of all sorts. From the heartwarming, to the perverse, to the malicious, to the downright lonely. And you can never really 'win'. The more things go in the favor of romance, the more uncomfortable the *reader* is for their voyeurism. The more things go into the negative or bizarre, the more sympathy the reader will have for Natalie, and the more unreliable the "good" paths seem.

All in all, it feels a bit like an experience designed purely to put the reader just that little bit on edge, whether it's through subtle details or more blatant twists. Or maybe I'm just paranoid after so much past experience with internet creeps, and how real this might feel to the uninitiated on their very first playthrough. Either way, I, personally, found this to be a delightful exploration of all sorts of relationships, and perhaps a bit of a fun romp through the feeling of seeing things I'm not supposed to.

I also have to add how refreshing it is to have an interactive meta-narrator that isn't just some twelvie that thinks they're Lemony Snickett. You have no idea how satisfying it is to see that after so many of the 'troll' games we used to have.

I NEVER WANTED YOU!!!

Too good for words

Noice sorta confusing but love it heart breaking

What is this?!! It's so dumb!

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Sorry, just WAY to long and won’t get to the point.

Too basic